Death Vessel
Logan Square Auditorium 1/27/6
There aren’t enough things written about Death Vessel so I’ll add more to this vast array of electronic sense. JOEL THIBODEAU of String Builder is simply amazing. I had no idea what Death Vessel would sound like but when I saw the name of the band, I thought hmm maybe heavy metal? Then, when I saw Joel come out, my first instinct was to worry about the next 40 minutes as he simply walked onto stage with his acoustic guitar and no band mates of any sort followed. But from the moment Joel started singing and playing, I was enchanted. It’s difficult to make just an acoustic guitar and vocals sound interesting. Leonard Cohen could do it. Bob Dylan in his early career as well. Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, and Arlo Guthrie and others had a definite talent. But by and large the majority of the musicians I have seen try to do this haven’t interested me in the slightest.
Joel has a way of capturing both sing songy and touchingly intricate melodies between his finger plucking and with his vocals. And let me mention that if you weren’t seeing Joel, you’d guess that it was a female singing. It’s not feminine in the way Antony and the Johnsons is because it’s not falsetto. His voice has more of a tenor in it like a female alto voice. I think everyone was pretty much stunned when they heard him sing. You could hear a pin drop.
The record Stay Close has a much fuller sound as there are many more instrumentalists as well as background voices. It’s very guitar oriented folk but at times there are hints of bluegrass as in on “Break the Empress Crown” and “Mandan Dink”
The lyrics are also a strong point. On his new disc, Stay Close, they are often full of imagery that depict situations in a way that at times recalls the incredibly talented Nina Nastasia. Here’s a couple of examples:
from “Later in Life Lift”: “Bandit came out of the juvy hall a tiny peculiar beast. Syphoned the sore from his surname, balled it up and then tossed it. If the weather is right, we’ll be harpooning our wishes on the iodine coast in Indian file. With a halo as bright as a million light fixtures on the iodine coast in Indian file.”
from “Deep in the Horchata”: “You’ve put a mute on cicadas’ song, now that you’ve dropped the A bomb”
You can listen to songs on his webpage here (just go to the category of music)
I will blog about the other two bands at this show, His Name is Alive and an old favorite Low in the next couple of days.